Arch supporter



Patented Oct. 13, 1925.y

N 1,557,312 PATENT oFFicE.

JOSEPH LELYVELD, 0F BQCKLANID, MASSACHUSETTS.

ARCH surroarmr..

Application tiled September 16, 1924. Serial No. 737,962.

To all whom t may camera.'

Be it known that I, JOSEPH LEnYvELD, a citizen ofthe United- States, residing at Rockland, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Arch-Supporters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is embodied in an archsupporting plate of resilient sheet metal, such as tempered steel, stellite, etc., adapted to be interposed between the outer and inner soles of a shoe, and to so support lthe inner sole as to cause the latter to act as hereinafter described, in supporting and maintaining various portions of the bones of the human foot.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a art of this specification,-

igure 1-is a plan View, showing the bones of a normal human foot, and showing by dotted lines an arch supporter fembodying the invention, in the position relavtive to the foot which it occupies `when in use.

`Figure-2 is a plan view showing the supportera] ne.

Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4 4 of Figure 2. f

Figure 5 is a sectionon line 5-5 of Figure 2, and shows portions of a shoe by dotted lines.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the figures.

An arch-supporter embodying the invention is a one piece resilient sheet metal plate, preferably of tempered `steel orstellite, having suiiicient resilience to, enable parts of the plate to yieldingly support portions of an inner sole 12. The plate is adaptedgto be interposed between the inner sole and the outer sole 13, and is preferably provided with means, suc'h' as upstanding spurs 14, vfor engaging the inner sole and holding the plate in a predetermined position. The plate has a relatively wide anterior'end portion 15, a narrower posterior end portion 16, a relatively long curved inner longitudinal edge portion or span 17,

formed to extend from thel oscalcis to the base of ythe first metatarsal, and a shorter curved outer longitudinal edge portion 18, formed to extend forward from the oscalcis to the base of the fifth metatarsal.

` The plate is cut away to provide aper-A tures 19 and 20, between the portions 17 and 18, permitting independent flexures of said portions. The inner edge portion 17 provides a yielding support for the inner weight-carrying points of the foot. The

outer edge portion 18 provides a yielding support for the outer points. f

The plate hasla transversearchedportion or cross span 21, between the apertures 19 and 20, a apted to maintain the transverse arc-h y, y, which extends between the cuboid weight-carrying and the internal cuneiform, and to permit' independent flexures of the portions 17 and 18. p

They anterior en d portion of the plate includes a concavofconvex dome 22, preferably extended forward, and adapted to maintain the dome-like arching of the anterior metatarsal arch w, w, composed of the second that the inner sole forms a support for the various portions vor bones of the foot above mentioned.

l The curvature of the edge portions 17 and 18 is such that said portions are normally spaced throughout t e major portion of their length from the outer sole, and are adapted to yield between their ends to downward pressure, and to permit a limited yielding of the arched cross span 21 and the dome 22.

Owin to the one-piece construction of the supporting plate, the arts being integral with each other, the p ate is adapted to-be expeditiously formed b suitable dies, with its parts in a fixed and invariable relation to eac other, without an assembling operation, following the forming operation, the plate being insertable as a unit between an outer and an inner sole. There are no overlapping parts, so that all portions of the plate are of uniform thickness.

' The plate ma be cut out from sheet material by a sin e operation, which includes the molding o the portions 21 and 22, and the cutting away of material to form the apertures 19 and 20.

` resilient sheet material, adapted to first metatarsal, an outer longitudinal curved Y edge portion formed to extend 'from the oscalcis to the base of the ith metatarsal,

and anterior and posterior end portions integral with and connecting said edge portions, the plate being cut away between the edge portions and between the end portions to permit independent vfieiure of the edge portions.

2. A Vone-piece arch-supporting late of resilient sheet material, adapted to e interosed as a unit between an outer and an inner sole, and including an inner longitudinal curved edge portion formed to errtend from the oscalcis to the base of the first netatarsai, an outer longitudinal curved e ge osealcls to the base of the fifth metatarsal, anterior and posterior end ortions integral with and connecting said e ge portions, the plate being cut away between the edge portions and between the end portions to permit independent flexure of the edge portions, and a transverse arched portion integral with and connecting the edge portions between cut away portions of the plate and adapted to permit said independent flexure and to maintain the transverse arch between the cuboid and the internal cuneiform.

3. A one-piece arch-supporting plate of resilient sheetrmaterial, adapted to be interposed as a unit between an outer and an ortion formed to extend from the` asevera inner sole, and including an inner longitudinal curved edge portion. formed to extend from the osoaleis to the base of the lirst metatarsal, an outer longitudinai curved edge portion formed to extend from the oscaicis to the base of the iifthmetatarsai, and anterior and posterior end portions integral with and connecting said edge portions, the plate being cut away between the edge portions and between the end portions to permit independent fiexure of the edge portions, the anterior end portion being domeshaped and adapted to maintain the (imple-like form of .thel anterior metatarsal are c 4 Ain arch-supporting plate of resilient sheet metal, adapted to be interposed between an outer and an inner sole, and to entend forward from the oscalcis nearly to the anterior metatarsal arch, said plate having a relatively wide forward end portion, a narrower rear end portion, an inner longitudinal curved edge portion formed to extend from the oscalcis to the base of the first metatarsal, an outer longitudinal curved edge ortion formed to extend from the oscalcis to the base of the fifth metatarsal7 the plate being apertured between said end portions to permit independent iiexure of said edge portions7 a transverse arched portion between its ends adapted to maintain the transverse arch between the cuboid and the internal cuneiform, and a dome-shaped portion at its forward end, adapted to maintainV the dome-like form of said anterior transverse arch ln testimony whereoic I' have aiiixed my signature.

JOSEPH LELYVELD.

fie 

